


Byronic Curls (fanart)

by goddamnshinyrock (micaceous), micaceous



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Fanart, M/M, period hairstyling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 06:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5080747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/micaceous/pseuds/goddamnshinyrock, https://archiveofourown.org/users/micaceous/pseuds/micaceous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Courfeyrac, after long cajoling, finally convinces Marius to let him curl Marius' hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Byronic Curls (fanart)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jehanmylove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jehanmylove/gifts).



> Jehanmylove asked for "fluff and cuddly things" (and Marius being awkward, which goes with saying, tbh.) and I came up with historical hairstyling techniques. At least it's pretty fluffy?

~~...Marius, the poodle.~~

**Author's Note:**

> I have actual historical notes for this bit of shippy nonsense: Courfeyrac is using curl papers on Marius, which would have been the easiest hair-curling technique at the time (heat curling was definitely a thing, but I didn't think Marius would let Courf near his head [with a hot iron](http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/bodyarts/index.php/temporary-body-arts/hair/75-wig-curlers-and-hair-tongs-britain-early-1700s-and-late-1800s-.html)). 
> 
> To achieve a curl worthy of Lord Byron, each section of hair was wound up in a twist of thin paper (or piece of cloth- these are also known as 'rag curls') and then tied in place and left overnight, and the resulting... somewhat absurdly adorable ringlets were gently loosened with fingers (or tousled, depending on where on the scale from 'fashionable dandy' to 'consumptive poet who just came in from stalking the cliff-tops in a howling and very dramatic gale' your look was) to provide the perfect Romantic hairstyle. 
> 
> [This is the shortest and clearest tutorial/explanation I can find of the process](http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/curling-hair-zmaz71ndzgoe.aspx) that isn't very obviously meant for recreating 1940s looks, but it is near-impossible to find a modern tutorial for use on hair shorter than a long bob, despite plenty of historical evidence that men used this technique quite commonly. /sigh
> 
> Also, lest I forget, that dim print tacked up on Courf's wall is a lithograph of the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich's 'Tree of Crows', painted 1822. He was probably given it by Jehan, as Friedrich is exactly the sort of painter he would adore.


End file.
